Canopy construction



Sept. 11,1956 A. J. AUBLE CANOPY CONSTRUCTION 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 2, 1954' Ari/ml J. Aub/e mmvroze.

p 1956 A. .1. AUBLE CANOPY CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 2, 1954 Arf/Iur .1. Aub/e I INVENTOR. BY mm and Sept. 11, 1956 A. J. AUBLE CANOPY CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 2, 1954 mm hm E M W J. r w m M A wmm vm QR m at United States Patent CANOPY CONSTRUCTION Arthur J. Auble, Ord, Nebr.

Application March 2, 1954, Serial No. 413,523

1 Claim. (Cl. 2057.5)

This invention relates to an improved canopy construction and has for its primary object the provision of a light weight and easily constructed canopy, the same being an improvement on my Patent No. 2,474,713, patented June 28, 1949.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of a canopy constructed in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken along the plane of section line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical section taken along the plane of section line 3-3 in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an enlarged section showing the forward end of the canopy as illustrated in Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing a modified form of assembly; and

Figure 6 is a vertical section taken along the plane of section line 66 in Figure 5.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, it will be seen that the canopy embodies an open rectangular frame structure including the side pieces 10, rear piece 12, and front piece 14. The side pieces consist of vertical plate portions 16, upper flanges 18 and lower flanges 20, the lower flanges being connected to the portions 16 by the sloping wall portions 22 which extend downwardly from the lower flanges to meet with the horizontal wall portions 24 extending laterally from the bottom edges of the vertical plates 16. As seen from the cross section of these side pieces in Figure 3, they are of extremely rigid construction as regards bending forces and present troughs 26, the purpose of which will be presently apparent.

The rear piece 12 is of right angular configuration and is rigidly secured at its opposite ends to the bottom edges of the vertical plate portions 16 as by welding 28, see particularly Figure 3.

The front piece 14 overlies the forward ends of the side pieces, being of right angular configuration, and is rigidly secured to the upper flanges thereof as by suitable fasteners or welding, as desired.

The front piece carries braces 30 which connect the upper edge of the face plate 32 thereto, the face plate having a lower lip 34 connected to the horizontal wall portion 24. The face plate may be provided with letter grooves 36 for advertising or other purposes.

From the rear of the canopy to substantially the midpoint thereof are a series of trough members 37 bridging between the side pieces to form a continuous cover, as shown to provide alternate peaks 38 and valleys 40 of such over-all height as to be disposed between and connected to the upper and lower flanges 18 and 20, respectively. Each trough member provides a trough 42 communicating at its opposite ends with the troughs 26 of 'ice the side pieces, it being preferred that each trough member be formed with a sloping wall 44 and a vertical wall 46, with the latter wall facing the building to which the canopy is secured.

The remainder of the canopy is covered by a plurality of cross members 48 of generally Z-shaped configuration, each presenting a sloping body portion 50 and lateral lip portions 52 at opposite sides. The lip portions of adjacent cross members are disposed in generally parallel relation by virtue of the overlapping relationship of the adjacent side edges of the cross members. Thus, each cross member forms a trough communicating at its opposite ends with the side troughs 26 which, in turn, commu nicate at their forward ends with the troughs 54 of the face plate 32 open at its ends to allow escape of moisture collected by the canopy.

The rear piece 12 is bolted to the wall 56 of an associated building and anchor bolts 58 may be provided such that their threaded ends project through the front piece 14, see Figure 4, and their other ends, formed as eyes, engage with hooks 60 secured to the wall above the canopy.

The canopy formed in the manner above described will be extremely rigid while at the same time will be of light weight construction. Whereas each of the individual pieces lacks structural rigidity in one direction, the manner of interconnection between the various pieces is such as to take advantage of the rigidity of the individual pieces to provide structural rigidity in all directions.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 5 and 6 wherein a modified form of canopy construction is shown, it will be seen that this assembly differs from that previously described in that only one trough member 37 is provided at the rear of the assembly, the remainder of the canopy between this trough member and the rearmost cross members 48 being covered by a continuous piece of material indicated generally by the reference numeral 62. The material is corrugated and has flattened alternate peaks and valleys 64 and 66 connected to the upper and lower flanges 18 and 20, respectively, of the side pieces 10. The troughs formed between the sloping side walls 68 and 7 0 of the corrugations operate in the same manner as the previously described troughs 42.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

A canopy comprising side supporting trough members extending outwardly from the wall of a building and including vertical plate portions provided with horizontal flanges at their upper edges, said plate portions also having a horizontal wall portion at their lower edges, upwardly sloping walls extending from said horizontal wall portions and lower horizontal flanges extending laterally from the upper edges of the sloping wall portions, a corrugated sheet member extending from and between one end of said side pieces to substantially the center thereof and presenting alternate peaks and valleys defining troughs and respectively connected to the upper and lower flanges of the side pieces, a plurality of cross members disposed in spaced relation from the center to the front of said supporting trough members, some of said cross members being formed with transverse troughs projecting within the open sides of said supporting trough members and draining into the same, a front piece cross connecting said trough members and having a trough suspended therefrom transverse to and in front of said plurality of cross members, one of said cross members being disposed at the front of said trough members and slanting downwardly and forwardly to said trough and terminating below said from 'crosspiece to drain under said front cross 5 piece into said trough.

References Cited in the file of this patent Thompson Aug. 21, 1951 

